A digest of events, trends, issues, ideas and journalism from and about rural America, by the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based at the University of Kentucky.
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Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Weekly newspaper, radio station rally small town devastated by tornado

The Licking Valley Courier's Miranda Cantrell
talks to school officials for the paper's second
post-tornado issue. (Photo by John Flavell)

How do you keep publishing your weekly newspaper when a tornado has blown away the office? You find a way, and some new ways, because your community needs it.

That is the story of the Licking Valley Courier in West Liberty, Ky., population 3,000, as told by Ivy Brashear of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues. She also reports on the local radio station, which suffered much less damage and served as an important source of information for the devastated community.

"In a small town like West Liberty, local news media play an important role in everyday life," Brashear writes. For the story, click here. For an online slide show of John Flavell's photos of West Liberty 20 days after the storm, go here.

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